Web-based computer game Moon Rush, conceived by Ohio State graduate students Cheng Zhang (MFA/DAIM and Computer Science Engineering) and Sherri Larrimer (MFA/DAIM), has won the People’s Choice Award, based on public voting, in the Shoot the Moon Game Design Challenge.

 

The competition was sponsored by Games for Change and the Schusterman Philanthropic Network, winners were announced April 23 at the Games for Change Festival in New York City.

 

Moon Rush is the concept for a web-based 3D computer game that features a virtual moon race, spacecraft landing and lunar buggy.

 

The three finalists in the competition presented their concepts on stage at the festival, with a chance for a $25,000 grand prize. SpaceIL Academy, a multiplayer adventure game that puts players in the role of spaceflight trainees, won the grand prize.

 

The goal of the design challenge was to create a space exploration game that would help the SpaceIL team, an Israeli non-profit organization dedicated to landing an unmanned spacecraft on the moon in 2015.